La Liga: Atletico Madrid slip up becomes a ray of hope for Barcelona and Real Madrid

It's been 9 seasons since a team other than Barcelona or Real Madrid has won the La Liga. The last team other than Barca or Madrid to win La Liga was Valencia CF under the management of Rafael Benitez in the 2003/04 season. In those previous seasons, the only team to make it into the top two of La Liga other than Barca or Madrid was Villarreal in 2007/08 season, who finished in the 2nd spot behind Real Madrid.

The last few seasons has seen major dominance from Barcelona and Real Madrid with no team getting closer to them until the last season, when Atletico Madrid emerged as potential challengers, only to end their La Liga campaign at the 3rd place.

But this season, Atletico Madrid have been true title contenders, currently sitting on top of the league with 88 points from 36 league matches, followed by Barcelona on 85 points and Real Madrid on 83 points. It seemed evident that Atletico Madrid will win the La Liga title this season after 18 years, but suffered a huge blow at the weekend. Diego Simeone's lost the match 2-0 to Levante, who sit in the middle of the table. With Real Madrid dropping points against Valencia in a 2-2 draw and Barcelona dropping points against Getafe in a 2-2 draw, the La liga is now wide open.

Its still uncertian as to which team will win the league. With Real Madrid having a match in hand, they can inch closer to the top of the table, provided they win away against Real Valladoild. Winning that match, Los Blancos will get on to 86 points, two points behind the La Liga table toppers. At the moment, Atletico Madrid is the team under pressure having lost an important match against Levante. To clinch the title, Diego Simeone's men have to record victories against Malaga at home, and aganst Barcelona at the Camp Nou, which my be the potential title decider.

FC Barcelona, who are currently in the 2nd spot of La Liga, are at the risk of slipping down to the third position, only if Real Madrid manage to win the match they have in hand. Assuming that Real Madrid win against Real Valladoild, the La Liga Table would be something like this (all teams having played equal number of matches) : 1) Atletico Madrid - 88 points / 2) Real Madrid - 86 points / 3) FC Barcelona - 85 points. Though Atletico Madrid are more likely to win the La Liga, the competition between the top three teams is very close and the final result is unpredictable.

For Atletico Madrid to win the La Liga, they need to beat Malaga frist, and Barcelona later on at the Camp Nou. For Real Madrid to win the league, they have to win all of the remaining 3 matches they have in hand, along with Barcelona defeating league leaders Atletico Madrid. For Barcelona to win the league, they have to win the remaining two matches and hoping Real Madrid drop points in their remaining matches.

Eventually in the end, one team's result will have an effect on the other team. With the La Liga blown wide open, its anybody's league. The 2013-14 La Liga season, at the moment has been the the most entertaining and unpredcitable La Liga season till date, it as had many twists in its tale. One can surely look forward to La Liga for sheer entertainment.